Tales of the Silver Millenium
by Dark-Kingdoms
Summary: Prince Endymion is trying to figure out something about his Generals.
1. Chapter 1

**Fishing **

_Written for sm_monthly Silver Millenium month, January 2008_

_Theme: 1. In vino veritas _

_Genre: drama _

_Version: Anime / Manga _

As soon as he saw Zoisite leaving, a few minutes after Kunzite, Prince Endymion invited himself at Nephrite and Jadeite's table. He tried to sound casual.

"So, what do you think of your Moon Kingdom fiancées?"

Nephrite gave a quizzical look at the bottle Endymion had placed on the table. Endymion rarely shared casual drinks with his 4 Generals.

Jadeite shrugged.

"They are nice."

Endymion poured them each a glass of kela - stronger than usual wine.

"Just nice? You are engaged to them."

Nephrite drank his shot straight, smirked and poured himself a second one right away.

"And we are lucky enough with our lot, Prince. They are pretty, charming and competent guards to your beloved Serenity. We always knew we wouldn't choose our mates anyway."

Endymion took a sip and tried not to cough. He wasn't used to strong drinks.

"Someone doesn't seem so easy-going."

Jadeite raised his now half-empty glass.

"Ah, you mean Zoisite?"

"Doesn't he like Mercury? We thought they would get along. Or is she not pretty enough for his taste?"

Nephrite and Jadeite exchanged a look.

"Do you really think he's that vain, Prince? Zoisite can look a bit... shallow sometimes, but not to that point."

"He's been bordering on rude to Venus, a diplomatic guest. What reason does he have for that, other than she's prettier than him?"

Jadeite chuckled. Nephrite gave Endymion a cryptic smile.

"Prince, if you really want the answer to that, don't try to get us drunk to tear the truth out of us. You're not good at it. Ask Zoisite directly."

--- end ---


	2. Chapter 2

**Fire burns**

_Written for sm_monthly Silver Millenium month, January 2008_

_Theme: 2. Fireworks _

Princess Serenity's birthday was meant to mark the end of the Moon delegation visit. The celebrations reflected the importance of both events, and culminated in a flamboyant fireworks.

Which also demonstrated the skills of Endymion's Generals, or at least one. Zoisite, whose magic was so closely associated with fire, was in charge of it.

Gathered on the Earth palace's great balcony, guests agreed that he put all his heart into it. The show was magnificent and lit up the sky entirely. Zoisite's silhouette was all that could be seen of him in front of the changing wall of illuminations, arms extended as he commanded his pyrotechnic spells.

The Moon princess and her Guards cooed excitedly, cuddling against their fiancИs - except Mercury, whose fiancé was at the center of the fury. None of them noticed the ember escaping from it, until Venus' gown suddenly burst into flames.

Servant girls shrieked, Venus for once was too startled to react. Within seconds, Mercury and Kunzite's combined spells had extinguished the flames, and Venus only had to deplore the loss of her favorite dress, and being drenched from her head to her toes. She gracefully accepted Zoisite's apologies for the incident, and walked away with Mercury to her room to fix the damages.

Once she had left and everyone resumed talking, Kunzite caught Zoisite's eyes. The younger general lashed a small victorious smile, before switching back to a neutral expression.

--- end ---


	3. Chapter 3

**Fishing **

_Written for sm_monthly Silver Millenium month, January 2008_

_Theme: 1. In vino veritas _

_Genre: drama _

_Version: Anime / Manga _

As soon as he saw Zoisite leaving, a few minutes after Kunzite, Prince Endymion invited himself at Nephrite and Jadeite's table. He tried to sound casual.

"So, what do you think of your Moon Kingdom fiancées?"

Nephrite gave a quizzical look at the bottle Endymion had placed on the table. Endymion rarely shared casual drinks with his 4 Generals.

Jadeite shrugged.

"They are nice."

Endymion poured them each a glass of kela - stronger than usual wine.

"Just nice? You are engaged to them."

Nephrite drank his shot straight, smirked and poured himself a second one right away.

"And we are lucky enough with our lot, Prince. They are pretty, charming and competent guards to your beloved Serenity. We always knew we wouldn't choose our mates anyway."

Endymion took a sip and tried not to cough. He wasn't used to strong drinks.

"Someone doesn't seem so easy-going."

Jadeite raised his now half-empty glass.

"Ah, you mean Zoisite?"

"Doesn't he like Mercury? We thought they would get along. Or is she not pretty enough for his taste?"

Nephrite and Jadeite exchanged a look.

"Do you really think he's that vain, Prince? Zoisite can look a bit... shallow sometimes, but not to that point."

"He's been bordering on rude to Venus, a diplomatic guest. What reason does he have for that, other than she's prettier than him?"

Jadeite chuckled. Nephrite gave Endymion a cryptic smile.

"Prince, if you really want the answer to that, don't try to get us drunk to tear the truth out of us. You're not good at it. Ask Zoisite directly."

--- end ---


	4. Chapter 4

**Seeds**

_Written for sm_monthly Silver Millenium month, January 2008_

_Theme: 3. Labyrinth _

In the Floral Labyrinth of King Ethlios' gardens, on the Earth palace, not only flowers blossomed.

Prince Endymion, Ethlios' son, liked to lose himself in the contorted paths with his fianc?, to escape the sight of their guards. Earth flowers were much more colorful and perfumed than the Moon Kingdom ones, and Princess Serenity beamed with joy among them.

Jadeite was torn. Mars was passionate, maybe too much for his composure. Their relationship developed accordingly, either fantastic or headache-inducing, always explosive. Sometimes it made them complementary. Other times, Jadeite gazed at the Prince and wished he had never fallen in love with Serenity. It had launched the diplomatic events leading to engage the Generals to the Moon Guardians.

Mercury knew something was on her counterpart's mind. Zoisite was always gracious to her, and they had nice conversations in the gardens. But every now and then, his attention wandered away and his face hardened. She wished she could help him, but as friendly as they were together, they were only that. There was always a wall around Zoisite's deeper thoughts, and that wall seemed to grow day after day.

Nephrite found it hard to lose his own fiancé, as with her heels adding to her size, Jupiter's ponytail could be seen above the bush anyway. As much as they appreciated having an equal in each other, she wasn't quite the girl he had dreamed of. When he allowed himself to think about it, after a few glasses, he mused that Mercury's delicate frame was more to his taste. And he resented that Zoisite didn't love her as she would deserve.

Kunzite thought of his duty only. His whole existence was defined by it, or so he liked to think. Courting a Moon Guardian as engaging as Venus couldn't be considered as a hassle, certainly. She seemed to love him genuinely. And he liked her too. Maybe in part because her bubbly enthusiasm and pretty features reminded him of someone who he more than liked. That was as good as he would ever be allowed to have.

Beryl couldn't stand the sight of the Moon Princess batting her eyelashes at Endymion. She was very far from the gardens now. She raised the glowing crystal in her left hand and at its light, checked the map in her father's notes. As the court's Alchemist, he had studied the ancient books and passed most of his knowledge to his daughter. Unfortunately he hadn't passed her his wisdom, and now that he was dead, no one could prevent her from going in the Forbidden Maze under the Obsidian Mountain, in search for a way to get her prize back.

--- end ---


	5. Chapter 5

**Revealing**

_Written for sm_monthly Silver Millenium month, January 2008 _

_Theme: 5. Revealing_

Zoisite had never taken training lightly, but he had never looked so threatening to Kunzite either. In between sword passes, he managed to shot small magical darts that only missed their target by an inch, and even scorched a strand of white hair.

When Zoisite took a serious risk to break through his defense, and his sword ripped off the orange ribbon tied to his shoulder pad, he called it a day.

"Excellent attacks today. A little too bold, maybe."

Zoisite defiantly sheathed his sword.

"But it worked. I have reached you."

Kunzite untied the ribbon shreds from his shoulder without looking away from Zoisite. He saw his emerald eyes narrowing as they laid on the orange fabric.

"Lord Kunzite, I request permission to cease training with you. Permanently. I hope you will agree that I am now fully capable to hold my duties."

The silence lingered a little longer than needed. Kunzite didn't show any reaction as he finally replied.

"Fine. I will tell King Ethlios and Prince Endymion that you're no longer my apprentice. You won't need my insignia any longer, then."

Kunzite walked closer to Zoisite and removed the white and light blue emblem pinned to his chest, ignoring how tense the young man became. Finally he looked up to meet his eyes again.

"You're a free man now."

Zoisite clenched his teeth then seemed to give up and opened his mouth.

"Lord Kunzite, I..."

Kunzite raised his hands to the pretty face and kissed him, softly but firmly. He finally broke away and watched him blink in surprise.

"Silly, Zoisite. Wouldn't that be easier to talk about it, instead of ruining an innocent gift from that poor Venus?"

The young man stood there startled, unable to answer. Kunzite sighed.

"I'm sorry. I wish things were different. I really do. But we can't break these engagements. They will ensure peace between us and the Moon Kingdom. Even if by some miracle we avoided these marriages, sooner or later we would have to accept another diplomatic alliance. Mercury and Venus are in the same situation."

Zoisite finally gathered his senses enough to snap back, as much a question as a sarcasm.

"Do they love each other?"

Kunzite smiled.

"I don't think so."

Zoisite mellowed.

"Lord Kunzite, when..."

"Don't call me that."

The young man frowned like a cat being tapped on the nose.

"Why?"

"You are no longer my apprentice. And that's the answer to both your questions. Why I didn't tell you earlier. I hoped we would have time. Then I thought we wouldn't have any... and that it was better not to start something that would just make it harder for us both to do our duty with the Moon Guardians. Don't make it harder, Zoisite."

--- end ---


End file.
